“Of those, about 50 percent are short-sighted, and 50 percent are long-sighted or presbyopic,” he says.

Wolfe, who’s been in the business for 30 years and 40,000 eye surgeries and counting, says his patients opt for a more permanent choice (only 4 percent of surgeries will need an enhancement), rather than glasses or contacts, for a few major reasons.

“It’s personal choice, but the first is convenience, second, that quality of vision is better with laser eye surgery, third, to avoid some of the potential complications associated with contact lenses (there’s a 1 in 2000 chance every year of an infection on the cornea), and then there’s also vanity reasons,” he says.

Often the eye surgery can be life changing, and Wolfe recalls one memorable moment with a patient.

“I saw one young woman who wore very thick glasses, and it was a pivot for her to change. She became more confident and addressed all the other things she saw about herself.”

In fact, it’s not unusual for patients to burst into tears…of joy.

“One of the most common laser eye surgeries, LASIK, actually enables you to see straight away. Patients will have a surprised look on their face and start to cry, as the results are better than they expected. You want to join in with them,” he says.

Why then isn’t everyone at it?

Well, you have to be an eligible candidate for starters. “Moderate to medium-high degrees of short- sightedness, and long-sighted people are usually suitable. If you have a disease of the cornea and eye, you won’t be suitable, nor are systemic diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. Your eyes will be thoroughly assessed to determine suitability before any treatment is recommended,” he says.

And then there’s the fear and expense. At around $3000 per eye, the hefty price tag is understandably a barrier for some. Although Medicare does not cover laser eye surgery, some private health insurance funds do cover some or all of the cost - so it pays to check with your provider.

Still interested? Behold, the available treatments for your eye conditions.

Short-sightedness (myopia)

What is it? Distant objects appear blurry. Short-sightedness affects about 25 percent of people, does not worsen with age, and is the most commonly treated condition.

What is the treatment? LASIK, ASLA, ICL, RLE.

How LASIK works is creating a flap from your cornea and treating underneath, and putting the flap back. You’ll be better almost immediately (the next day). ASLA treats the surface, recovery time takes about one week and patients usually experience some pain. Wolfe tries to avoid this method, which is only used in about five percent of cases, where the cornea thickness precludes the patient from LASIK.

ICL refers to the process of putting a lens inside the eye without taking the human lens out. This is a one eye at a time procedure, and is done when LASIK is not an option (too short sighted). RLE which is short for Refractive Lens Exchange, is similar to a cataract operation, where a multi-focal ocular lens is implanted teaching the eye to focus. It’s the most common implanted medical device in the world.

Long-sightedness (hyperopia)

What is it? Difficulty focusing on objects up close

What is the treatment? LASIK, ASLA, ICL, RLE.

Astigmatism

What is it? Light focuses unevenly causing blurry or distorted vision over both long and short distances. Astigmatism doesn’t occur on its own, rather it’s associated with long or short sightedness. Bonus.

What is the treatment? LASIK, ASLA, ICL, RLE.

Presbyopia

What is it? A natural part of ageing process, reading smaller print becomes more difficult usually from the age of 45. In fact, if you don’t get it, there’s likely something wrong with your eye, says Wolfe.

What is the treatment? Monovision, RLE. Monovision can treat presbyopia by making one eye short-sighted.

Keratoconus

What is it? A degenerative eye condition, where the normal shape of the cornea becomes distorted and a cone-shaped bulge develops, resulting in a progressive blurring of the vision. This is a weakness in the collagen or fibres of the corneas.

What is the treatment? Kerarings, Collagen Cross-Linking (CXL).

Cataracts

What is it? An age-related cloudiness that develops in the lens, inside the eye, typically in your sixties and seventies.

What is the treatment?Cataract surgery/laser-assisted cataract surgery (LACS) is the most common operation in the world, with around 200,000 done every year in Australia.